A Delicious Deal Between Farmers and Restaurants

Enthusiasm for local produce is constantly growing nowadays — farmers markets are flourishing, and CSAs (community-supported agriculture programs) are increasingly popular.  But both of these methods of farm-to-consumer sales focus on individual buyers. What’s a restaurant, a school or a hospital to do when it wants a larger-scale infusion of fresh local fruits and vegetables? And how are growers to find those institutions that can offer the opportunity for a bulk sale?

NPR reported on Monday that a company called FarmsReach ("the web hub for local grub") is answering that question. Started last spring in the San Francisco Bay Area, FarmsReach connects farmers with restaurants and other institutions, enabling big sales and specialized deliveries that farmers-market-style selling doesn’t encourage.

The FarmsReach Web site allows buyers to e-mail a farmer directly by clicking on the produce they are looking for. Buyers can instruct sellers on the specifics of the order and give instruction on a suitable drop-off point. This allows restaurateurs to stop spending time calling numerous farms or shopping piecemeal at markets. And farmers that would previously have had to put in hours cold-calling establishments that might want their wares can now spend more time tending their fields.

The model is working so well that the site’s owners are making plans to expand the program to seven other regions. Perhaps one day, this will be the standard everywhere. We — and our taste buds — can surely hope.

Photos courtesy of jshad (top) and blary54 (bottom) on stock.xchng